Articles / Papers by Philip Smither
Britannia, 2020
Recent excavation and coring of the collapsed east wall of the Saxon Shore fort of Richborough ha... more Recent excavation and coring of the collapsed east wall of the Saxon Shore fort of Richborough has revealed the manner in which the wall collapsed. This led to a re-evaluation of the original siting of the wall, which must have lain to the west of where it is usually depicted. Reassessment of previous excavations, including the examination of original records from the J.P. Bushe-Fox excavations of the 1920s and 1930s leads to the conclusion that the so-called ‘unfinished’ or ‘abandoned’ east wall foundation was in fact the base of the built east wall, from which the collapse derives. A revised fort plan based upon this conclusion is suggested. Supplementary material is available online (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X20000379), and includes additional backing tables and illustrations referenced in the text.
London and Middlesex Archaeological Society Transactions Vol 68, 2017
There are three main types of weighing instruments
from Roman London: equal balances, steelyards ... more There are three main types of weighing instruments
from Roman London: equal balances, steelyards and
dual balances. London is also exceptional in yielding
more than 134 examples of balances. In addition, the
distributions of 193 pan weights and 47 steelyard/
dual balance weights were recorded to provide a detailed
distribution of their usage across Roman London.
Interestingly, in the rest of Britannia steelyards were
primarily used, while London shows the opposite trend
with higher usage of equal and dual balances. Within
London dual balances are more common than within
the rest of Britannia, suggesting that the economy of
London was based around smaller quantities and/
or more valuable commodities. London has the most
diverse collection of figured steelyard weights from
Britannia, including those of gods and goddesses,
suggesting a culturally diverse origin for the city’s
craftspeople and traders. Contextual evidence suggests
that weighing instruments within the Roman city were
used in a variety of retail trades and craft activities.
Much of this activity took place along the Walbrook
valley. This research also makes comparisons with other
object types which emphasises the industrial rather
than domestic context for use. This paper demonstrates
that this first corpus of a distinctive type of material
culture can provide significant insights into ancient
economic activities.
by Isabelle Bertrand, Jérôme Bénézet, Alfredo Buonopane, David Lanzi, Alexander Harizanov, Philip Smither, Carla Corti, Michel Feugère, Pirmin Koch, Laure Brossin-Pillot, and Stéphanie RAUX 60 p., many figures, recent bibliography, colloquiums annoucements, book reviews, ...
Information... more 60 p., many figures, recent bibliography, colloquiums annoucements, book reviews, ...
Informations : [email protected]
Papers by Philip Smither
"The category of Roman weighing instru-ments is made up of several different objects. There are t... more "The category of Roman weighing instru-ments is made up of several different objects. There are the weighing scales themselves, which come in three basic forms; equal balances, steelyards, and dual balances. There are also the weights, of which there are pan weights and hanging weights; each type of weight is associated with a different type of instrument; pan weights with equal and dual balances, and hanging weights with steelyards and dual balances. Weighing instruments are found on all types of sites and are identifiable by elements of their morphology. This category of objects has been largely overlooked in Roman finds studies. Howev-er, there exists two typologies for steelyards (Grönke and Weinlich, 1992; Franken, 1993). For the purposes of creating a typology which would include all types of instrument, Grönke and Weinlich was found to be more suitable."
Roman weighing instruments is a heavily under-studied category in Roman material culture studies.... more Roman weighing instruments is a heavily under-studied category in Roman material culture studies. This thesis presents the first provincial study from the Roman Empire and in total 481 objects associated with Roman weighing instruments were collected from across the province of Britannia. The weighing instruments of Roman Britain are largely a Roman import from c.AD43 onwards with likely production in the province in the following centuries. Three types of weighing instruments were used in Roman Britain: steelyards, equal balance and dual balances. This research has further developed the current typology of steelyards to include new types as well as incorporate equal and dual balances within the same typology. Within these there is much variation in form and shows that Britain has more in common with Gaul and the Germanic Limes. The spatial distribution is mapped across Britain exploring various site and context types in order to display patterns of use, with several trades including butchery, metalworking and cloth dyeing associated with weighing instruments. Overall, use from the mid-1st - late 2nd centuries AD suggests use in the ‘Romanised’ areas of Britain with diffusion to more rural areas occurring later.
The primary debate concerning Roman seal-boxes is of their use and to some extent the imagery has... more The primary debate concerning Roman seal-boxes is of their use and to some extent the imagery has been interpreted to hold apotropaic qualities. However, their social contextual use has had little exploration. This brief paper explores a few sites from early Roman London and the deposition of seal-boxes, in an attempt understand their use in the social context of the site.
Conference Reviews by Philip Smither
RAI Newsletter No. 46, Apr 2014
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Articles / Papers by Philip Smither
from Roman London: equal balances, steelyards and
dual balances. London is also exceptional in yielding
more than 134 examples of balances. In addition, the
distributions of 193 pan weights and 47 steelyard/
dual balance weights were recorded to provide a detailed
distribution of their usage across Roman London.
Interestingly, in the rest of Britannia steelyards were
primarily used, while London shows the opposite trend
with higher usage of equal and dual balances. Within
London dual balances are more common than within
the rest of Britannia, suggesting that the economy of
London was based around smaller quantities and/
or more valuable commodities. London has the most
diverse collection of figured steelyard weights from
Britannia, including those of gods and goddesses,
suggesting a culturally diverse origin for the city’s
craftspeople and traders. Contextual evidence suggests
that weighing instruments within the Roman city were
used in a variety of retail trades and craft activities.
Much of this activity took place along the Walbrook
valley. This research also makes comparisons with other
object types which emphasises the industrial rather
than domestic context for use. This paper demonstrates
that this first corpus of a distinctive type of material
culture can provide significant insights into ancient
economic activities.
Informations : [email protected]
Papers by Philip Smither
Conference Reviews by Philip Smither
from Roman London: equal balances, steelyards and
dual balances. London is also exceptional in yielding
more than 134 examples of balances. In addition, the
distributions of 193 pan weights and 47 steelyard/
dual balance weights were recorded to provide a detailed
distribution of their usage across Roman London.
Interestingly, in the rest of Britannia steelyards were
primarily used, while London shows the opposite trend
with higher usage of equal and dual balances. Within
London dual balances are more common than within
the rest of Britannia, suggesting that the economy of
London was based around smaller quantities and/
or more valuable commodities. London has the most
diverse collection of figured steelyard weights from
Britannia, including those of gods and goddesses,
suggesting a culturally diverse origin for the city’s
craftspeople and traders. Contextual evidence suggests
that weighing instruments within the Roman city were
used in a variety of retail trades and craft activities.
Much of this activity took place along the Walbrook
valley. This research also makes comparisons with other
object types which emphasises the industrial rather
than domestic context for use. This paper demonstrates
that this first corpus of a distinctive type of material
culture can provide significant insights into ancient
economic activities.
Informations : [email protected]